The Act of Changing Masks
by Wildcat317
Summary: A what-if of when Makoto was interrogating Akira about his connections to the Phantom Thieves' in the student council office of Shujin Academy. In this, Akira decides to embrace his inner Joker and do everything he can to throw the student council president off the trail. But will Makoto be fooled by the masks this boy wears?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is just a little what if story I thought up and figured you guys might enjoy. This is like the first thing I've posted in years so yeah. Also sorry in advance about any grammar/spelling mistakes, it's been a while :P**

Makoto internally smirked as the transfer student, Akira Kurusu, entered the student council room. For weeks she had been following him and his little group of misfits dedicated to catching them in the act of being criminal. Makoto was relentless. There was no way that these students weren't the Phantom Thieves' of Hearts. There were too many coincidences for her to just ignore them.

Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitigawa. All of these admittedly notable individuals shared similar circumstances. They all had an adult misuse power against them in some way, then when all seemed to be lost for them, a calling card would appear out of the blue one day condemning the unjust adult into question. Two calling cards, two changes of heart. Both accredited to the Phantom Thieves. And if that wasn't enough, all the victims began seeing each other outside of school on a regular basis.

Most people had a funny bone. Well, not Makoto, she had a suspect bone. It tickled whenever something suspicious was afoot and when around that particular group it tickled like nothing else. So she decided to go undercover and spy on the most mysterious character in the entire plot, Akira Kurusu. She never knew that she was such a super spy until these past few weeks. For hours she would follow behind Akira observing, and not once did he notice! He looked back toward her a few times but she simply hid behind a non-suspect manga. Then he would cock a brow in total confusion and would start smiling to himself for some reason before moving on. Her stealth skills were unmatched. It was all for naught however, as the only thing she learned in her stalki- observation, was that he had a cat with him at all times and seemed to talk to it. Surprisingly, having a cat on your persons at all time is not against a single rule at Shujin.

Makoto was running thin, but her hard work finally paid off. She had him right where she wanted him.

* * *

"This is the student council room." Akira gave a small nod to the cat in his bag and stood at attention in front of the door. He was slightly nervous to approach the person who had been basically stalking him for the last two weeks. It was odd at first and Akira often looked at her in confusion before just accepting his new follower and move on. He was very good at adapting to new situations. Morgana told him that was one of the reasons they made him their leader.

"Well? What are you waiting for Joker, get in there!" Resisting the urge to make a that's what she said joke, Akira slid open the door and entered the room.

Giving a small smile and a short wave, the criminal greeted his would-be prosecutor.

"Have a seat."

It seemed as if pleasantries were not going to be exchanged in this conversation. With great reluctance Akira slowly placed the Mona bag™ on the chair next to him and sat down for what surely was going to be an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience.

Pulling her bangs out of her eyes Makoto spoke firmly and clearly, "I'll get straight to the point then. Mr. Kamoshida and Madarame. Won't you tell me the truth behind the Phantom Thieves' incidents?"

Surprise showed very lightly on Akira's face and he did his best to remain as calm as possible and not let anything slip. Morgana had no such mask and audibly gasped at the blatant accusation. Nervousness settled deep in Akira's stomach as he now realised the true purpose behind his invitation here. She was trying to figure them out. Well, he would allow no such thing. He wasn't the leader of the Phantom Thieves for nothing. Masking his discomfort with defiance, he silently regarded the girl seated across from him.

"Can't answer that? Ah, of course. There's no way you would admit to such things," For a slight moment, Akira noticed a predatory glint in the student council president's eyes, and for the first time since he first awakened his persona, Akira felt frightened. This girl was dangerous.

She gave him a soft smile and pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket, "Have a listen," she pressed a button on the phone and turned the volume up.

Of all the things he expected to hear on the phone, his best friend's voice was not one of them. In retrospect, allowing Ryuji and Ann to talk loudly and openly about their night job was a mark of failure on himself as a leader. He should have been more cautious.

"What could all this mean, I wonder?" Resting her head in her hand, her red eyes bore into Akira's.

"We've really gone and done it this time! What are we gonna do Joker?!" Morgana was in panic mode and in all honesty Akira was too. So he needed to not panic, to not be Akira. He needed to act as Joker.

Crossing his legs, Joker smirked devilishly, "What could all this mean indeed, Ms. President? Are you attempting to insinuate something?"

"Yes." Blunt. Cold. Her answer was expected. Joker now had the upper hand.

"Do I look like the kind of student who would be involved in unsavory happenings?" The faux look of innocence on his face would fool noone but that was all part of his plan.

Makoto leveled a glare at him and spoke harshly, "Without a doubt."

Before he could divert the conversation anymore, Makoto slammed her hands on the desk. "Was it blackmail? Hypnosis? How do you corner someone into making them confess? Won't you tell me how you did it?"

His options were limited so he decided to play clueless, "Not sure what you mean."

"...You want to say that this doesn't prove anything don't you?" She folded her arms and stared at him. "Well it may not prove anything, but it'll at least cast suspicion on you for the time being."

Joker's smirk expanded to his whole face now. "That's too bad Ms. President. It would seem that my voice is not on the recording and while people may believe you without evidence seeing as you are an A student and student council president, it wouldn't be too difficult for me to dissuade them either."

"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, eyes narrowed.

"Well I've been getting a bit popular myself. The criminal becomes reformed, he does well in class, gets a high grade on the test. Hangs out with poor Mishima. While it may not seem like it, I have slight sway in the general public. And you, Ms. President, are currently losing much sway especially with how the principal has been acting."

The shock on her face was almost comical and Joker almost felt bad about his blatant exaggeration. Almost. He needed to get out of this. For the team.

"I-It doesn't matter. I can at least get police to watch your behaviour, because I believe that you three are phantom thieves." Her shocked expression was quickly covered in defiance and rebellion. "Now what would the police think if they heard my recording?"

Morgana, after being unusually silent, chipped in, "It'd be bad if we were put under police surveillance. There's no telling what would happen to you, too!"

"If you confess the truth, I don't mind just leaving this between the two of us. You'll tell me, won't you?" Makoto's question was posed as a statement.

"Hmmmmm," Joker comically tapped his chin with his finger, "You'll have to let me think about it prez."

She huffed in frustration, "I believe that time would just be wasted."

Joker's phone rang out loudly in the small room.

Quickly checking the caller ID he saw that it was Ryuji, calling at the worst possible moment. He looked up at his interrogator and saw her motion for him to answer. Against his better judgement, he answered.

"Hey man where ya at? Me and the gang are here at our PHANTOM THIEVES HIDEOUT ready to hang out and be awesome PHANTOM THIEVES. Hurry up and finish taking a leak, we're all waitin' on you to start our PHANTOM THIEVES MEETING."

"That stupid Ryuji!" For once Joker agreed with Morgana's assessment of his best friend.

While Joker was trying to think up damage control, Makoto looked like the cat who caught the canary. " As loud as always...but his timing is perfect."

Her victorious smirk seemed to radiate triumphance, "I'd like everyone else to hear this too, won't you take me to your friends?"

Joker need a new tactic fast. He couldn't keep antagonizing her, he needed a new approach. He needed to be Akira again and try and seize the situation.

Looking as downcast as possible, Akira started to confess, "You were right about everything Niijima-san, it was all us. I'm sorry I verbally assaulted you I just didn't want to be found out…"

Smiling, Makoto put her hand out and placed it atop his, "It's okay Akira-kun, just start from the beginning and explain everything."

"Well, it didn't start until after Kamoshida," perplexion shot across Makoto's face, "That's when me and the other's started really getting together and doing this thing…" Akira sniffled and wiped at his eyes a bit.

"W-w-we…" he trailed off.

"It's alright Akira-kun, you can tell me," she gave him a comforting look.

"W-we run the phansite with Mishima!" he screamed out. "We thought the phantom thieves' were super cool and we wanted to support them in our own way! Please don't tell! It's really embarrassing and I don't wanna get into trouble with my guardian!" Tears ran down his face in a light trail as Makoto tried to come to terms with what he just told her.

It had to be a lie. But he was so emotional that it couldn't possibly be fake. She did not expect this to be the outcome of today's meeting at all.

"Listen, just tell me a few more details and you can go, and I won't tell on you, I promise."

After telling the tale of how he and the others got roped into creating the phansite with Mishima, Makoto let him leave. It seems she would need to find a different lead.

Akira meanwhile smirked to himself as he left the school. He had already gone ahead and texted Mishima the cover story, just in case and was tying up any loose ends that his story may have. Overall not his best acting work, but it was enough to get the job done. Surprisingly, he had fun, Ms. President kept him on his toes, got his blood pumping. Maybe he would match wits with her again. Akira's excuse would be practice at hiding information, but his true motivation would be to spend time living the thrill of a phantom thief with someone who made his heart beat like no one else.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So I decided since so many of you asked for it, that I would continue with this story! I have a bit of a plan for how I expect this to go but that doesn't mean that I won't be paying attention to reviews and criticisms! Please review it gives me lots to think about and please criticize, it will only help me improve! :P**

Akira had never thought himself a noble thief. A thief, yes absolutely, there was almost nothing that he loved more than raiding palaces and defeating monsters, all the while, expanding the treasures in his possession. So, yes, he was without a doubt a thief. But noble? Akira wasn't so sure of that. If he were as noble as Morgana led him to believe, Akira would not have led Makoto around by the nose, and he most definitely should not have derived enjoyment from his act. That was not the act of a man who was noble. Akira was not worried though, oh no, he was the exact opposite of worried. If nobility was as boring as his feline made it out to be, than Akira wanted no part of it. Nobility is fine and dandy, but, in the opinion of the leader of the Phantom Thieves, selfishness was an acceptable alternative. After all, what kind of thief would he be if he didn't take what he wanted.

* * *

Makoto was in the process of banging her head against her room wall. She was back at square one. Akira had skillfully maneuvered through her trap and had facts to back up his story. Now, Makoto was no fool. Obviously Akira was still hiding something and it still might be entirely possible for him to be involved with the Phantom Thieves beyond his work on the Phansite. Actually, Makoto was convinced that Akira himself was a member. The only problem was that she had exhausted all the evidence she had gathered in a single meeting, she had been so ecstatic about having caught him that Makoto tipped her entire hand. How was she supposed to know that he would weasel his way out of her claws. She needed a new plan. She needed the Phantom Thieves to help the students that were trapped by Kaneshiro's debt schemes.

Makoto stayed up all night laying in her futon, thinking. It was in the early hours of the morning when Makoto smiled devilishly and closed her eyes. She had pleasant dreams of putting her new plan into action.

* * *

"Kurusu-kun, I would like to speak with you once more."

Akira was visibly shocked. He expected Makoto to call for him again sometime in the future, but this was much too soon.

"What did you do?! Why is she coming after you again?" Morgana seemed to be in no state to have a repeat of what happened the other day and had taken to shuffling about uncontrollably in Akira's schoolbag.

"Kurusu-kun please." Makoto gave him a pleading look that was filled with hope. Akira may have decided that he was not noble, but he wasn't a heartless bastard who could just turn away Makoto's, admittedly cute, puppy dog eyes.

Akira decided that he would at the very least hear her out. Besides, he could practically feel his body preemptively heat up at the thrill of another encounter of minds.

Akira tried but ultimately failed to keep the giddiness out of his voice as he turned to Ann and held out Morgana, "Ann hold the Mona BagTM, this won't take too long." She gave him an odd look but didn't say a word as she took the bag in hand.

"Hey man what gives! I thought we had plans to go to _that_ place today!"

Akira gave his best friend a quick warning look and very delicately said, "Ryuji, I think Mishima will be fine without us working on the phansite for one day." He hoped his friend got the hint.

"Whatya talkin' about man?" Obviously Akira would have to re-tell Ryuji about the cover story they had decided on after Makoto almost found out about them, "We don't help Mish-"

Ann quickly kicked his shin and started walking away quickly, "Of course Akira! We'll meet you at Leblanc and save you a drink!"

Akira had thought it many a time, but it was times like these when he thanked any gods out there that Ann had the common sense that Ryuji did not. He turned back to Makoto, who had waited throughout the entire exchange with a surprising amount of patience.

"Well, lead the way prez."

* * *

Makoto led him back to the student council room and they took positions reminiscent of the of their confrontation. Last time, Akira had been beyond nervous, this time, however, he was beyond _excited_. Almost immediately after sitting down he had to school his features to keep his eager grin under time, he would get the first move.

"Prez, may I ask what this is about?"

Makoto gave a long sigh and then gave him a look that screamed of intense desperation, "I need your help," Akira merely raised an eyebrow, "Students have been getting caught up in shady activities, delivering packages of unknown origins that I suspect contain drugs."

His eyebrows shot up at this, "What kind of shady activities?"

"From what I can gather, they are approached on the street in broad daylight and asked if they want to make a large amount of money very quickly. They are then asked to deliver a small package to a locker and after that the men who they were approached by take a picture so that they can-"

"So that they can blackmail them into paying them more and more cash for silence and possibly even force them to deliver more drugs," Akira concluded.

Makoto looked surprised for a second but then gave a small grin, "Exactly, and this is where you come in," She gave him a somewhat feral grin and Akira couldn't help but shudder involuntarily, "I need you to get this name to the Phantom Thieves through Mishima's website and save these students."

"The Phantom Thieves?" Akira was shocked, "But weren't you on a personal crusade to find them?"

"Yes, I do wish to know if they are doing illegal acts, but if they can save the student body that I cannot, then I am willing to ask for their help."

"Alright, I'll let Mishima know."

Makoto got up and gave Akira a megawatt smile and a quick hug, "Thank you so much Kurusu-kun!"

Blushing at her close contact he quickly tried to save face by speaking again, "Please just call me Akira."

Makoto blushed a bit at the casual way he wanted her to speak to him in, "O-okay, but only if you call me Makoto!"

Laughing and nodding, Akira gave her one last smile and left the room, reassuring her that the Phantom Thieves would get to the bottom of it.

Makoto had no doubt about that. She fully expected them to succeed. But she also planned on watching Akira and co. very carefully during the next few days.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Updating again! i'm not really gonna have an update schedule, but I will be trying my best to get at least one chapter up a week, sometimes more. :P This chapter is more dialogue heavy and showing the reactions of Akira's pals towards his growing friendship with Makoto. Please review it helps lots, and let me know if I characterized them correctly!**

Makoto was beginning to get frustrated. It had been multiple days and there hasn't been a single change to the situation. If she hadn't seen Akira and his gang snooping around for information, she would have thought they were doing nothing at all. They seemed to be taking small steps in collecting information and while that would be fine and dandy under normal circumstances, Makoto needed them to speed up the process. After all, the longer they took to collect information, the more students were coerced into danger. This can't be all the Phantom Thieves could do, surely? Maybe she could give them a hand?

* * *

Akira was feeling extremely satisfied. Ann had used her impressive "acting" skills to gain the locations of where some students had been approached by Kaneshiro's men. Now they had to plan. He quickly sent off a text to Ryuji and Ann telling them to meet at the usual location.

"Hey Joker?" Morgana stuck his feline head out from the flap in Akira's schoolbag.

"Hm?"

"Why are we helping the student council president with this? It's not really our problem."

"Morgana, we had been struggling to find a target for weeks, and now that she's given us one you're gonna complain?"

"Well, it's not so much that. I'm really energetic about this target and excited to take down another criminal as the impressive phantom Thieves! But, it's just that-"

"Just what?"

"It's just that when Miss Niijima asked you for a favor, you went out of your way to immediately start fulfilling it."

"And that's bad? Weren't you the one telling me to expand my confidants? Try and learn so that I can be the best Phantom Thief I can be?" It's true, Morgana did encourage him to do these things. What Akira hadn't told Morgana was that Makoto was not a confidant, at least, not with a social link like all the others.

Morgana looked slightly disgruntled and uncomfortable, "Yes, but with Miss Niijima you seemed...different." Now it was Akira's turn to be uncomfortable.

Giving Morgana a suspicious look Akira asked, "Different how?"

"Never mind, it must have been just my imagination. Now come on! We can't leave Lady Ann with stupid Ryuji for so long!" Although Morgana acted enthusiastic, he sent a wary and concerned glance toward his companion.

Morgana looked sadly at Akira. 'Be careful falling for those outside of our group my friend. It won't be easy to hide secrets this big from her. I can only worry about the future for you.' Morgana thought to himself, shaking his head sadly.

* * *

The walk to the secret hideout was silent and slightly awkward between Morgana and Akira. Finally arriving at the location, Ann and Ryuji welcomed them with smiles and waves.

"Yo Akira!"

"Hey Akira, Morgana!"

Wasting no time jumping from the Mona bag™, Morgana leapt onto the railing by the window.

"Alright team, according to the very valuable information that Lady Ann has graced us with, most of the students were approached somewhere in downtown Shibuya."

Ryuji gave his two cents, "Well there we go! Case closed! All we gotta do now is stake 'em out and take 'em out!" Ryuji made a fist and shoved it in the air.

"Not so fast Ryuji. We have to come up with a plan."

"Come on Akira! We already know where they'll be so all we hafta do is take 'em down!"

"Um, Ryuji I think Akira is right. After all, we don't even know if this Kaneshiro person has a palace," Ann crossed her arms.

Morgana gave a cat's grin at her, "That's a very astute observation, Lady Ann! But Akira already checked him out."

"As soon as Makoto told me the name of the man in charge, I checked the app and sure enough he has a palace."

Ann gave Akira an odd look, "Makoto, huh."

"Yeah man when did you and the prez get on a first name basis?"

Akira focused as deeply as he could to keep his blush down, but even with all his effort, a small hint of pink appeared through his mask. "Listen guys, It's a completely professional relationship. We realized that we may be working together every so often and decided that it would be simpler to just shorten the names and drop the suffixes."

Surprisingly Ann and even Morgana seemed to believe him. Both adopting similar relieved expressions. Even more surprisingly was Ryuji who was watching his best friend with a doubtful expression. Ryuji had known Akira the longest and he could feel deep in his gut that part of Akira's sentence was a lie. He had no way to prove that however, so he simply let the subject drop.

"Anyway," Akira took charge of the conversation once again, "The plan is this, we are going to spend the day tomorrow investigating Shibuya. Once we find the area that we believe Kaneshiro's men are targeting students at, we will set a trap."

"A trap Joker?"

Nodding slightly at Morgana's question, "That's right. Once we find the area, I will pretend to be interested in his drug trade. After that, you guy's will follow me to where Kaneshiro is and hopefully we can get the jump on him. If all works according to plan, even if he attempts to blackmail us like all the other students, we should have enough information to enter his palace and take him down." He knew his friends would object to him being the bait, but it had to happen so they could get an audience with Kaneshiro.

Sure enough Ann was the first to speak up, "Akira it's a good plan and all, but I'm not sure how I feel about you being the bait. There's gotta be another way."

"I agree with Lady Ann, this is too risky Joker, even for you. There are too many unknown variables and it's really dangerous!"

"Listen guys, I know you don't want me doing this, but it's the best shot to talk to Kaneshiro, and we need to find out about him to save the students he's tormenting. You get it right Ryuji?"

The boisterous boy seemed unusually reserved, "I get it dude, really I do. And I do think this is the best way to take the bastard down, but it does seem dangerous."

"Ryuji, don't you trust me?"

"I do man. You're right," He turned to Ann and Morgana, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Besides, it's our fearless leader! He's got this!" Giving a loud laugh and a small punch to Akira's shoulder, Ryuji gives Akira a look of approval.

Reluctantly agreeing with their teammates, Ann and Morgana give each other worried looks.

"It's decided, We'll put the plan into motion after school tomorrow," softening his eyes Akira glances towards his friends, "I'll be fine guys, promise."

They all split and head their separate ways home, all worried about the operation that would begin the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Back again! This chapter is a little on the shorter side, but only because the next chapter will have some action! This chapter is trying to emphasize Morgana and Akira's friendship and flesh it out a bit more. Also no, I didn't forget about Yusuke the art boy ;P**

* * *

 **Yusuke K: And you're certain this is the only solution?**

 **Akira K: Yes.**

 **Ann T: Our fearless leader is resolute it seems**

 **Yusuke K: I do wish you had notified me and allowed my input**

 **Yusuke K: I do not appreciate being left out of the loop**

 **Ryuji S: Stop worrying! Our man's got this!**

 **Yusuke K: Very well, I will trust your judgement**

 **Akira K: Everyone meet at the hideout after school, time to put the plan into action**

* * *

Akira flopped onto his bed and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting shaggy. Akira had been rather determined the last few days and had been neglecting his personal health for the mission. He knew that he was overworking himself but he couldn't afford to slow his pace. If something happened and Akira could have prevented it, he would never be able to forgive himself. Between working through mementos, going to school, taking care of request on the phansite, working multiple part-time jobs, spending time with his social links, and investigating the Kaneshiro case, Akira was feeling absolutely exhausted.

"Joker."

"What is it, Morgana?"

Morgana gave him a defiant look, "I think we should wait a day or two before we go after Kaneshiro."

There wasn't enough time, they needed to solve this as quickly as possible and Akira told Morgana this.

"I know! But look at yourself! You're exhausted! Today in mementos you were barely keeping up!"

Akira gave a large sigh, "Listen, I know you are worried about me, but this isn't about me. There are innocent people at stake here Mona; if something happened to them and I could've stopped it…" he let the sentence drop.

"I know… Just, be careful tomorrow, okay?" Morgana's concerned look burned into Akira's mind and he suddenly felt extreme guilt for the way he had been stressing out his companion.

"I'll be careful, promise," Akira gave his cat a small grin, "Besides, the team would fall to pieces if I wasn't here to keep it together."

Morgana puffed out his fluffy chest in indignation, "It would not! I can lead very well thank you! And my first order of business as team leader would be to kick out useless Ryuji!"

Akira gave a soft laugh and got comfortable under the covers. Although he didn't act like it, he was nervous. This time they were going after an actual criminal. Not just someone who has done illegal things, Kaneshiro was a crime boss. Chances were, he wouldn't regret getting rid of some meddlesome teens.

Feeling a soft lump lay on his chest, Akira drifted off to sleep.

As his best friend slipped into slumber, Morgana watched him faithfully, "Be careful my friend."


End file.
